Fire chief: Fire in attic at Skippack Village started as mulch fire

SKIPPACK — Lindsay Smith, the owner of Stitchwell Fabric in Skippack Village, was sewing in a second floor room when she saw another business owner running past her business away from Route 73 towards a strip of shops.

“At that point I knew something was wrong,” she said.

Looking out a rear window, Smith says she saw the attic of the building engulfed in flames.

A two-alarm blaze Friday afternoon disrupted at least four businesses in the strip near the back of the main parking lot at 4007 Skippack Pike, according to Haydn Mariott IV, chief of Skippack Fire Company.

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He said the entire structure’s first floor absorbed smoke and water damage, and that the attic in the center of the strip absorbed substantial damage from heavy fire.

Between six and 10 people were safely evacuated from the stores, Mariott said.

He said the incident will force all four business — including the Hodge Podge, Merle Norman Facial Spa, a women’s clothing accessory store and Head over Heels — to close indefinitely.

According to Mariott, the blaze started in a mulch pile behind the building. He said the fire burned up the wall, climbed the roof and ended up in the attic.

Authorities responded to the incident at 1:20 p.m., according to the chief.

He said firefighters needed between 30 and 45 minutes to extinguish the fire.

First responders received the initial call as a car fire, according to Mariott. However, he said no vehicles were involved in the blaze.

The state police fire marshal was on the scene Friday investigating the incident.

Firefighters from Worcester, Harleysville, Towamencin and Lower Providence responded to the scene, according to the chief.

He said members of the Perkiomen Fire Company, based in Collegeville, were on standby at Skippack’s station.